BLOODLINES
by Dumbledore08
Summary: Eragon Is on a Franctict search for the missing eggs while trying to destroy Galbatorix's reign. Along his journey he faces multiple deaths, a new rider, and the burning feeling on the inside telling him to switch sides. What descicions will Eragon make?
1. CLEANUP

**CLEAN UP**

Eragon bent low over a dead body. The Varden had been picking threw survivors for three days now, and they haven't seemed to be making any progress. As Eragon was looking at the facial features of this particular soldier, he noticed the fear in his face as he was hunched over a sword.

_**He seemed to have been killed with his own weapon**_ Stated Saphira as she touched his mind finally. She had been away hunting while Eragon assisted in the cleanup.

_**Aye, that he does,**_Eragon couldn't believe the stench that had set in all of a sudden._**All of this sacrifice, and it didn't even matter. We made no ground or gave up any ground. Galbatorix's troops were well ready for our fight. Even with us there, it made no difference**_Eragon had been having a hard time with all of the deaths around him. He was constantly casting out his consciousness looking for survivors. But all he found was the remainder of Varden that hadn't moved back to the camp.

_**That may be little one, but it was a necessary battle. Plus, we found out about the other rider. We know who it is, and now we can work even harder to stop him**_ She watched as Eragon stood up and shook his head. She could feel his emotions almost as if they were his own. She felt anger, disappointment, and even…. Fear.

_**It doesn't matter Saphira. We aren't strong enough to face Murtagh, my brother.**_ He found out about his brother Murtagh when he fought him in the previous battle, and he was hurt to learn that he was the new rider that Galbatorix had control over. And if that wasn't bad enough, he also found out that his father was Morzorn, the rider who betrayed the other riders to Galbatorix, who in turn tracked down and killed them. _**And plus W\we did what we need to do; the only thing that we have left to do before returning to Oromis is help rescue Katrina. I promised Roran that, and Ill keep my word.**_ He sensed someone approaching from behind him and automatically drove into their mind to find out their true intent. It was Roran.

" Hey Roran" Eragon said as Roran approached him, merely feet away.

" How do you do that?" Roran asked as he wiped the sweat off his neck. He had to been helping with the cleanup, along with the other members of their home village, Carvahall. The village was fine up until Eragon found Saphira's egg; in witch it attracted weird beasts called Ra'Zac. These were fouls, vicious creatures that ate flesh off of humans for food. They now work for Galbatorix, doing his evil bidding. These creatures chased off Eragon and Brom, only to later return to Carvahall in search of his cousin, Roran. When they returned they forced Roran to either be taken alive or unconscious, for the wanted information on Eragon and Saphira. They broke into Carvahall in the middle of the night and kidnapped Roran's wife to be Katrina. As they later found out, Katrina's father, Sloan, betrayed them, for he did not agree to allow Roran to marry his daughter. So, Roran wound up leading the village to Surda, a country that spent its time sabotaging the Emperor.

" I am a rider after all Roran, or did you forget" He said with a tiny chuckle. He approached Roran and put his arm on his shoulder.

" I didn't forget, and you look very tired. You need some sleep." He looked deep into Eragon's eyes; he could see the utter exhaustion in his face. " Lets go back to the tent, you're the only one who hasn't rested. Everyone else has had three or four breaks. Plus, I'm going to need you at peak condition for the Ra'Zac."

"Please" Eragon laughed weakly. " I could beat the Ra'Zac the way I am now, especially with my training."

_**Careful Eragon, don't get to cocky, remember what Oromis said about the unexpected.**_ _**We may have been able to cream them before, but now we have to be able to use as little energy as possible, because Galbatorix could change his mind about us and send Murtagh, or he himself, to try and kill us. **_She finished with a slight growl witch arose the crows a hundred yards away that were feeding on the flesh of the dead. It also forced Roran to draw his weapon. He looked around startled.

" I still can't believe you are a rider." Roran chuckled in amusement, storing his weapon back in his belt.

" Do me a favor Roran…." Eragon paused in thought; he had been thinking this over ever since he agreed to accompany Roran to Helgrind. Without waiting for a response he continued, " No matter what happens, I need you to promise me that if there is trouble, and I ask you to hide, you will do so."

" I cant do that, I have to avenge Carvahall, and Katrina." He said with a growl

" I wont ask you to leave unless I since another rider, or magician, but I cant let you fight a magician or a rider, not yet. Promise me Roran."

He looked up at Eragon, looked deep into his eyes again and saw the anger, and fear, but he felt something else to, something deeper in the back of his mind. It was there, but he couldn't put a finger on what it was, It was a different feeling. He had lost track of time and searching Eragon's face, he saw that it had been minutes. " I promise"

" Good, now while me and Saphira rest, there is something I want you to do"

_**I feel what you are trying to do Eragon, but can Roran really learn his way around he sword in just a few hours. I mean it would be easier if we accompanied him while he trained, and even if he does feel confident, can we trust him guarding our backs with only five or six hours of training?**_ She jumped up, and started to glide just over Eragon and Roran's heads, deep in thought.

_**It will be fine, plus the teacher I am thinking of will have him trained n no time at all, not to mention that you and I could take on Helgrind by our selves. Ill spar with him and if I feel he has no shot, ill give him a bow and put Wards around him, but that's just worst case scenario.**_ Eragon lead the way threw the tents towards Roran's and his own lodging, looking up at the sky he saw it was roughly noon, and the sun was barely visible threw the thick clouds. The sky was an eerie red color with blotches of golden brown, leading the way; he found their tent in a little under a half hour. Opening the flap, he toward Roran, " Wait here for a second, ill be back"

" Ok," he said with a blank look on his face.

Eragon turned out of the tent and ran towards Saphira, Jumping a little higher than ten feet; he used her armor to climb the rest of the way up. _**Help me find Arya, he stated with his mind. She'll prabrobly be close to Nasuada. **_

_**I agree.**_ As she jumped up off the ground Eragon opened his mind and let it briefly touch everyone around him. They soared barely twelve feet off the ground, and started to circle around the campsite. After a few minutes of looking, Eragon sensed someone in deep meditation. Pursuing deeper, he found himself instantly blocked out by a view of a pile of reddish brown dirt.

_**I found her; she is about two hundred and fifty yards to the East. **_Saphira turned very suddenly forcing Eragon to put his hands threw the holes on her saddle. As they approached her, Eragon jumped off without warning and landed on his feet, A drop that would have proved fatal a few weeks ago. He approached Arya, he found himself straitening his hair. He approached the spot he saw in her mind very slowly, trying not to startle her, but as he approached the pile of sand in the middle of three tents, he saw her no were to be found. He instantly cast out his mind again looking for her, he found her in a matter of seconds, but came across the same view of a pile of dirt when he tried to pursue her train of thought. He cast out for Saphira and found her flying high in the sky, almost out of his reach. **_Saphira!!! There is something wrong, I can't find Arya, I mean I sense her but when I try to pursue the thought, all I get is a image of the pile of dirt I'm at right now._**

He couldn't believe his ears when she merely chuckled and responded, _**She was right to not allow you to try and woo her, your love for her has blinded you….**_ And with that she caught a gust of wind and rode it higher than Eragon's mind would allow him to go.

"What could she have meant?" He thought to himself quietly. All of a sudden he felt a cold blade against his neck. He cast out his mind one more time and only saw the pile of sand once again. " Who are you?" he asked with nothing but fear in his voice.


	2. RORANS TRAINING BEGINS

RORAN'S TRAINING

BEGINS

" Well, it looks like I was right," said an all to common voice from behind him. " If you can't even protect yourself when you are to worried about me, Galbatorix, no, Murtagh well rip you to shreds." Eragon felt the cold blade pull away from his neck. " Your training is truly not done my young rider."

Eragon was speechless. Then he felt rage build up inside him like a fire growing under the guidance of logs. " You tricked me Arya?" he spat suddenly. " I was worried about you, and you tricked me. I thought you were in serious trouble!"

" That is exactly what I was trying to make you believe, and what I saw truly troubles me." She bowed low to the ground, " please forgive me Shadeslayer, but I had to see what would happen if you were ever tempted with me, and what I saw truly concerns me."

" It still doesn't excuse what you did, I was really worried about you."

" Yes you were, your feelings for me blinded you from protecting yourself, you were too focused on what was happening to me to even reach out for magic. Now do you see why we could never be?"

" So…. You do have feelings for me?"

_**Careful little one, you don't want to get on her bad side again. You remember how it hurt you the last time. **_Eragon hadn't even notice her join once again with his consciousness, seen how he was so used to it by now.

Moments past until she answered, then Arya said quickly, " I told you once, and I shall not repeat my self again, my feelings do not sway outside of friendship, and if you cannot grasp that, I'm afraid you are only hurting yourself." She walked over to him and placed her right hand on his shoulder, " let it go Eragon. Please." She took her hand off and turned towards her tent.

_**Eragon, Roran, **_Saphira screamed all of a sudden. The words echoed off the inside of his head like an avalanche racing down a mountain. It made him shiver.

" Arya, wait. I need you to do me a favor." She turned around with a puzzled look on her face. " I need you to quickly teach Roran the way around a sword."

" For, what Shadeslayer?" Arya asked suddenly.

" As you may have heard, I am accompanying him to Helgrind to rescue his fiancé from the Ra'Zac. I need to know he can handle himself around a sword, for my protection and his." As he finished he bowed, then he twisted his figures over his torso in the Elvin sign, " please Arya"

" I wasn't aware that you planned on this trip. I just thought that you were going to go back to Ellesmera to continue your training with Oromis and Glaedr. Plus, you could take them out with magic all by yourself, you are strong enough."

" Yes, but he wants to go, and I'd like him to be there so we can bring vengeance on them for our Carvahall.

" Vengeance is not the reason to fight, but I am not in charge of you, if what you say is truly what you wish, I will tutor your cousin as a favor to you. Just lead the way."

" Thank you," he said as he reached out with his mind until he found Saphira, _**Saphira come, we need you to take us to our tent.**_

_**I'm already on my way.**_ He looked around at Arya, the situations I keep getting myself into, he said to himself. Shaking his head suddenly, he turned around to Arya " Saphira's on her way, she'll take us to the tent."

" I figured as much, tell me, do riders even remember how to walk?" She joked as she turned her back towards him, " I see that you lost your sword, that both troubles me, and brings me joy."

" How so?"

" It troubles me to see you are once again weaponless, and also because if what I think is what truly happened, it means the sword is once again with the true heir of Morzorn." Eragon felt himself getting jittery, looking down at his shiny belt of diamonds, he began to become hypnotized by the lighting reflecting off the jewels, he reached down and began to play with the individual diamonds, he had been getting more and more uncomfortable every time that the words "heir" and " Morzorn" were put together. " No," she said suddenly as if reading his mind, " I don't think of you as a son of Morzorn, but as a hero of the Varden," she said. She turned around and flashed him a quick smile, " you are no villain, Eragon Shadeslayer, you are the future of Alagaesia."

Eragon felt himself start to get hot, trying to change the subject, he blurted out " and what's good about it?"

" You finally rid yourself of that cursed sword that brought the riders so much pain and suffering, when we get back to Ellesmera, I will talk, beg if I have to, for Rhunon to make you a new sword." She looked up and saw Saphira soaring out of the sky. As she landed they both jumped onto her and flew towards Eragon's tent were Roran was waiting nervously. When they landed, Roran ran out of the tent, before the flap even flopped closed, Arya was off Saphira and airborne towards Roran. He looked towards Eragon for the briefest of seconds before he put his gaze back on Arya. While she was in mid air, she pulled both of her swords from there appropriate hilts, and as gravity pulled her down towards Roran, he did a side roll as she brought the swords down in unison, dried dirt flew in the air as Roran brought himself to his feet.

" What is going on?"

" Eragon has asked me to tutor you in the way of the blade, I see your troubles have made you quick on your feet. This is good and will cut the time I need with you down drastically."

_**He is good,**_ Saphira told Eragon honestly. _**Aye, that he is, maybe even better than I was before my training.**_

Eragon jumped off Saphira, as he landed he said quickly " You will need to learn your way around a sword sooner than later, I figure now is better than later. Especially with the Ra'Zac battle so close."

" I figured you would do something like this," Roran joked as a grin crossed his face. " Thank you, this will come in handy more than my hammer."

" That it will Roran." Eragon walked across the now made battlefield, placed his hand on Roran's shoulder, and said, " You will not be strong enough to beat her, but she will teach a lot. Arya is a worthy fighter, treat her with the utmost respect." Eragon smiled back. " Good luck!" He pulled his hand away and turned towards Arya, " He is in your hands now Arya-Elda. Treat him well."

" That I will Eragon." She smiled a stiff smile, and then fixed her eyes back on Roran.

_**Goodnight Saphira, keep an eye on them for me.**_

_**I will do just that, I am interested in what your nest mate is made of, this will be very interesting.**_

He laughed to himself, and he felt Saphira laugh to. _**That it will be. **_HE walked towards the tent, opened the flap, and went into the tent. Before he lay down he took off his belt of jewels, focused his mind, and reached out for his energy. He transferred the energy until he had almost none left. Then as he lay down and started to approach his self-made elvin trans, he felt the lack of energy truly take its toll. As he began to close his eyes the last words he heard were Arya say the words that Brom had said so long ago, the words to put the protective coating over his blade. He didn't sleep, for Elves did not sleep, but he had witnessed next would stick with him forever…


	3. THE DREAM

THE DREAM

Eragon was in his trance like state as he felt his body energy start to come back to him. He could feel his senses coming back; reaching out his mind with no particular control, he could sense many people around him. Eragon wasn't in any control, and it was a feeling like he had never felt before. Outside the tent, he could sense Roran's frustration as he was hit over and over again. Farther down he felt the Varden warriors playing a game of dice on their break from patrol. Someone just had won a lot of money. As his mind drifted farther outward, he felt happiness, dread, fear, love, and anger. Then towards the back of his mind he felt a gentle tug, a tug he had never felt before. Abandoning his current pathway, he pursued the unknown object. It seemed like hours as he passed down the long pathway. No matter how hard he tried, he could find nobody. He sensed, nor felt any emotion or life force. Then, after what seemed like hours, he came to a sudden stop. There was a door barely visible within his mind. It was like a door that guarded a castle. It was huge. Upon the door sat the word " Future". Using his knowledge of the ancient language, he chose carefully. Then combining the words " willing" and " open" he spoke " will you willingly open for a rider?"

As if the door shook his head yes, it broke down the middle creating a huge crack, then, before Eragon could drive any deeper into this path laid before him threw his mind, the door crumbled into a pile of dust. As soon as the door crumbled, Eragon drove threw the whole as if he were sprinting in a race. As soon as he crossed the door, a series of images flashed before him in a sequence of patterns.

At first, he saw an unknown rider, only he wasn't a rider. Not yet anyway. He held the Emerald green egg in his hands as he, Eragon, and Saphira flew over head shooting a serious of spells. Then, he saw the emerald dragon, only a baby, inside one of the Varden's tents. The future rider was unknown, for he was just a black mass. After that, the images disappeared as if he was heading farther into the future, he saw Nasuada with a bloody sword in her hand and tears rolling down her cheeks, Oromis laying in a bed, passing away swiftly with a huge stab wound through his stomach. After that, he saw himself in front of the shadow rider and the Emerald green dragon.

Then, he was being pulled backwards threw time; it felt like he was being squeezed threw a straw. Before he knew it, he was back in the tent aware of all things, but most off all, he was surprised to see the Saphira was unaffected by the trip. He knew that she was disconnected from him, that's why he felt so lonely threw the ordeal. Sitting up and feeling well energized, he sat cross-legged and began meditating and thinking about what he had just experienced. He knew that he just was in the future, but who had the rider been? Why was Oromis dying? And how did a great battle occur? All of these went racing threw his head. _**Welcome back little one.**_ Saphira said as she entered his mind, and once again he felt whole.

_**You mean you knew we were disconnected?**_

_**Well yeah, I'm not some stupid lizard. It's the same thing that used to happen when you fell into a deep sleep.**_

_**Deep Sleep?**_

_**Yeah, you know, before you became mostly elf.**_

_**Oh yeah!**_ Eragon said suddenly.

_**You're pretty dumb for a rider as old as you.**_ She joked.

_**How is Roran doing? **_

_**Better than expected.**_ Just as they finished the conversation, both smiling, a sword came wizzing threw the tent canopy. He walked out and approached the now done sparring pair.

As he approached he heard " you are a very good swordsman, as if Eragon's blood is within you".

" Thank you Arya." Roran said with a bow, "That is a great honor coming from you."

" I hope your sword comes true in your time of need." Arya said as she bowed and turned to Eragon. " He is naturally skilled at the blade, and I want you to have this." She put her larger of the two swords into its hilt, and then tossed it towards Eragon. "May it serve you on your adventure with the Ra'Zac. Just don't be recluse, you still have training."

" Thank you, for everything Arya-Elda" And with that she ran off without another word. Eragon approached Roran, " Are you ready?"

" Almost, let me take a nap, wake me in three hours at most." Then he took off threw the tent, leaving the flap to settle back down slowly.

_**Want to fly?**_ Saphira asked suddenly.

_**Yes, I need to get Roran a true sword.**_ And with that, they flew off into the now setting sun; hours seemed to have passed since he laid his head down. And he knew, deep down, that he wasn't just having a dream. It was a vision. Something that Oromis said even he couldn't do very easily.


	4. The Adventure Begins

It wasn't very difficult for Eragon to get a sword decent, and powerful enough for Roran to use against the Ra'Zac. All it took was for him to go into the Armory tent and convince the guy in charge to play him in a game of dice… Easy enough accept for the fact the he had never gambled in his life. The guard explained that the object of the game was quiet simple. You had 5 dice each, whoever rolled the highest total won. You got 3 rolls each, and you combined the scores. It should be especially simple enough for Eragon; he had faced hundreds of enemies. But as he saw the Guard roll a 28, he began to panic. When it was Eragon's roll, he rolled a 17. Not a bad roll, but he'd have to do much better on the next three roles. In the second round Eragon had watched in horror as the guard rolled a 25. That totaled 53, an almost perfect game. It was easy enough to spot that the guard was no novice at this game. And with Eragon betting enough crowns to start a small fortune, he couldn't take a chance at losing. With his next roll, he rolled a 21. Now it was 53-38 and things weren't looking so good. All the guard needed to do is roll a 16 and he would win this.

" Its very surprising to see someone as young as you betting so many Crowns." He said with a crooked grin on his face. " If you weren't a Rider, I wouldn't even consider taking your money."

" The games not over yet" He responded, but deep down inside he felt overwhelmed with fear. He just bet a lot of money, and he needed that sword. As the guard gathered the dice to roll again, Eragon reached out for the dice in the back of his head, he found them buried under a mound of guilt and regret. As he touched them, he felt Saphira's obvious rage. She couldn't believe what she was witnessing. But he automatically blocked her before she could say a word. As the guard cast the dice, he focused on two of them in particular, speaking in the ancient language under his breath; he forced them to come up low enough to give him a chance. Two of them came up as a 4, two more followed with the markings of a 2 and a 1, and Eragon already knowing, watched as two more came up as 1.

" No way" the guard muttered in utter disbelief. " That's the lowest roll I've done in a long time. A measly 13" Then he turned and spat. "No matter, you still need a 28 to win." But the dice were already cast, and with the power of his magic, he came up with a 30.

" That'll be your best? You had a great game, but the reason you lost was because of your self-fascination of wanting not to just beat your opponent but embarrass them. I've learned a lot about you just in this little game. I did enjoy it a lot. But unfortunately, I need that sword."

" Tha- that's impossible." He looked red with anger. It had been building with every word Eragon spoke." You cheated," He said in a sudden snap of his mouth.

" You dare call a Dragon Rider a cheater you scuffling dirt bag." One of the fellow guards snipped drawing his sword. " You should be ashamed. He has dealt with men of higher standards than you. I'm going to go and get Eragon his sword that he won fair and square, you better beg for mercy. This boy is our future." And he turned and bowed low to Eragon. " My apologies Shadeslayer"

" It's ok." He responded as guilt swept thru his body. The guard walked away to the back of the tent, as the fellow player came forth with the look of embarrassment clearly visible on his face.

" I'm sorry for letting my anger get ahead of my tongue, it won't ever happen again." And he dropped to one knee. " Please forgive me"

" It's fine" and he threw him three crowns. " It was a good game."

As Eragon and Roran set out on Saphira's back, Roran wearing a new sword with a ruby hilt, Saphira tore into him. _**That was an abuse of power. If Brom or Oromis ever heard of this, they would be seriously disgraced. You should be ashamed, if this ever happens again, I'll punish you myself.**_ Eragon felt very ashamed, but he needed the sword badly. He hated her being mad at him, but he had no choice.

_**I'm sorry Saphira, but can this wait until we get to Helgrind; we need one hundred percent concentration. **_He really felt sorry, but what could he do, what was done was done, and there was nothing he could do about it.

As they set up camp that night, Saphira flew away without a word. Every time he tried to contact her, she severed the connection. Very upset and full angry he turned to Roran.

" You wanna spar?" Eragon asked Roran suddenly. He was a little tired from the six hour journey in witch they covered a lot of ground, but he could still take Roran easily enough. Plus he wanted to relieve his frustration.

" I don't see why not. How far away for Helgrind are we?"

" Maybe a day in a half, two days at most. We covered a lot of ground today." Eragon replied as he stood up and unsheathed his Elvin sword. It was as all the swords were of its type, extremely light. Roran mimicked him and pulled out his sword. Looking at it with interest. The look on his face clearly saying we'll tear each other to its.

" Are you ready?" He asked suddenly, with a confused look on his face.

" Of course" Eragon replied with a grin as he put the protective enchantment around their swords. When he finished, he threw the sword back to Roran who caught it with a grin.

" Cool move." He said with a clearly visible sign of relief on his face. They started circling around the campsite, brothers united under a single cause. Eragon wouldn't make the first move because it would've most likely ended the duel, so instead he waited. After about two minutes, Roran made a sudden lunge with the sword, Eragon reacted instantly, blocking the sword with a flick of his wrist.

" You need to get angrier…. Swing at me like your swinging at the Ra'Zac." Eragon taunted, the swords broke apart and Roran swung his sheath around at a dangerous speed, but Eragon easily side stepped it, as he turned to initiate his own sequence of attacks, Roran swung his sword around, Eragon wasn't expecting this interesting combination. It was an advanced combination, but with Eragon's sword engaged with Roran's, he had only limited options. He ducked out from underneath the path of the blade and rolled behind Roran pulling his sword in an under arc movement. Sparks lit up the campsite as the swords engaged once again. But this time Eragon had the advantage. This attack was merely a distraction to keep Roran's weapon away. With the swords connecting still, he did a back flip and kicked the handle of Roran's sword; he heard an unmistakable crack. Standing upright as Roran fell to his knees, he lowered his sword to Roran's neck.

" You lose." He said staring deep into Roran's now tear filled eyes.

" Why?" Roran said in a voice of pure anger. " Why did you get so carried away? It was just a friendly spar, and you went over board."

As Eragon calmed himself down, he had let his emotions get the best of him, he bottled up everything that had happened to him and unleashed it in a fierce flip that would've been fatal if it had connected anywhere else. " I'm sorry Roran, I let my emotions get the best of me. I broke one of the most sacred rules of the Riders." He bowed low. " Forgive me brother."

" I understand where you are coming from Eragon, but I'm family." He said with a forced grin. " That attack should be used on enemies." Eragon stood up and approached Roran who held out his hand knowingly.

" I apologize, it will not happen again." And he took off his gloves and healed Roran's bones. Luckily it was just a partial fracture. The bones would be mostly healed buy the time they arrived at Helgrind. That night Roran had a hard time falling asleep. He couldn't help but realize that this wasn't the same Eragon from back at the farm. This Eragon wouldn't have any trouble killing Roran if he had the chance. And as Roran fell asleep, he dreamed of green snake scales, and the smell of blood…


	5. Unwanted Visitors

Unwanted Visitors

Unwanted Visitors

The next morning was very quite. Eragon arose first and doused the fire. When Roran woke, Eragon had already had breakfast, a bunch of herbs and berries, and was eating them quietly. " Saphira went to eat, she'll be back soon" Which was in fact very true. She had just come upon a deer in the forest away to the north of their current position. Eragon got up and walked over to Roran. "Listen, I'm very sorry for what happened last night, I've been very stressed had have had barely any sleep. I shouldn't have taken it out on you, but I lost control."

" I'm not going to say its ok, because it's wasn't right. But I do see were you are coming from. I have watched you lately. If you don't find away to bring peace to yourself soon, you'll die."

" I know, it's just so hard," Eragon said as he walked over to his sleeping bag and began rolling. All of a sudden, he felt strange. Danger was coming. Turning around, he caught an arrow with magic. " Roran, hide" Reaching out with his mind, he found Saphira.

_Hurry_ he thought sharply.

_ I know, I felt the surge of adrenaline._

_Try and see who they are._

"Roran, what are you waiting for?"

"This is my first battle with a sword, I'm not backing down" He pulled his sword out quickly. Eragon cast out with his mind. He felt the presence of at least ten men.

"Alright, if you insist. Listen, we are outnumbered five-to-one. Can you handle it?" Eragon asked as he jumped up a nearby tree. As he was about to hit the branch, someone tackled him in mid air. He hit the ground hard. The drop was about eighteen feet, and Eragon landed right on his shoulder. Ignoring the pain, he rolled on instinct as a sword came down at a quick arc. He did another backwards roll onto his right hand doing a flip off of it and slashing down with his sword. The man did a spin and easily knocked it away with his shield. He was quick. Buying time to search for Roran, he asked, " Who are you and what do you want?"

" I am Slader, one of the ten Furgmight. And I have been sent by Murtagh just to kill you" He started sidestepping, Eragon instantly knew this man was strong. His biceps showed through his chain mail.

" What are the Furgmight?"

"We are a division of the Kingdom's Army used for special missions. Oh, and we are trained in the ways of a Rider."

"Why? What purpose does that show?" He had to know if Roran was ok. He found him, back to a tree. Two Furgmight approaching from the sides with swords drawn.

"Oh, didn't you know? We are the next in line for the Riders."

"What are you talking about?" Now he had to search for the remaining seven from the group. Reaching out, he found three about three hundred Meters away with their bows out.

" Galbatorix is experimenting with his Dragon to see if he can create a new breed. We well be on top of everyone. We are much stronger than you are. Trust me, Murtagh told us how weak and pathetic you are." As he finished he charged forward with his sword pointed at Eragon's chest, he dunked and shoved his own sword towards Slader's chest. But before it struck, he caught the sword with a barrier. The sword stood still about a two inches from its target. "Oops, looks like I know a little bit of magic." He sneered as he backed off. "Oh, by the way, look to your left." As he looked, he was taken back to see three men sprinting towards him with their weapons drawn.

"How did you… I didn't even detect them." He got into one of the hundreds of Elvin stances he learned. Dropping low he sidestepped a large hammer as it left a small crater/ Jumping onto the hammer he jumped up and swung his sword at the warriors head. He dunked at the last moment and his head was quickly replaced by another warrior's sword. Reaching out and tapping into his magic supply he spoke the world for defense. A bubble formed in front of Eragon and the man's sword struck it and shattered. Landing with a roll he reached out and felt the presence of a pebble. He grabbed for it and sent it flying towards Roran; it hit one of the Furgmight in the head killing him instantly.

"You will never detect us, we are good in the ways of magic, and are very powerful." He charged and was followed by the other two. Reaching out, he felt for the one man who had no weapon. He muttered the words "snap brain nerve" and the man collapsed. It was almost too easy. These guys were tough. But it didn't appear like they knew how to throw up protective wards. Eragon ducked, then spun away from the battle. He dove forward lunging out with his sword. Slader jumped away but at the last instant Eragon pulled his sword at a sharp right slicing through the no named man's stomach. He toppled over.

Eragon reached out and found Saphira. _Don't worry about me go for Roran. _

_No need Eragon. He has already defeated his two Furgmights._

_How is that possible?_

_He is strong, and progresses quickly. You can tell he is a member of your family._

_Yeah… Go after those archers._ Eragon dunked to avoid a quick right hook, then an uppercut. " You have lost Slader. You might as well give up." Eragon said with a smile.

"What do you mean? You are outnumbered!" Slader looked confused.

"No, was outnumbered. Look around. I have killed two, my partner killed two, and as we speak my Dragon has just finished off your three archers. Its over."

He looked around, "you have no idea how many people I brought… There could be hundreds, thousands, and you'd never know." He was panicking now, anyone could tell. As quick as lightening Slader's hand flew to his belt and before Eragon knew what happened he had thrown a knife at him. Bringing the sheath of his sword up quickly, it hit with a soft _thud_. "Nice moves"

Eragon looked around. The knife was a distraction, used to help Slader get away. "Were are you coward" Eragon screamed. "Show yourself!"

"We will meet again Eragon. That's a promise." Eragon looked up and saw him high in the trees. Before he turned to run, Slader threw another knife towards Roran whose back was turned. "You might want to go help your friend Eragon…" The knife struck right above the ribs and below the shoulders. "That had poison on it, he has about seven hours left" Slader said with a smile. The smile was so evil, Slader's twisted blacking teeth were all that showed. "Till next time Shade Slayer." And he was gone in a flash of purple flames…


End file.
